Hiya Toys has promoted their new "Aliens: Colonial Marines" Alien Lurker figure for a few weeks now. It's up on Big Bad Toy Store for $20 by itself but I'm guessing by the case figures will drop in price dramatically. I'm excited by these, as I was told if the Aliens do well, Colonial Marines could very well happen.

The Aliens sport multiple sets of hands, an egg, and a facehugger accessory.

So I finally had a chance last night to go looking for this. I saw a few comparison pics on their facebook page with a GI Joe Storm Shadow figure. Very cool.

I'm not sure what it is, but a lot of this 'designer' 3.75" stuff is really tempting me lately. I've got one of the Acid Rain figures on pre-order at BBTS, I'm really tempted to throw one of these guys into the mix now too. Maybe have him hiding out in the corner of my Cantina set-up or something.

I have a ton of 3.75" Aliens and Predator stuff ever since I played a home made level to Jedi Knight...

The concept was a mash-up of Star Wars and Aliens, but making it seamless and believable. The Empire had a research facility on a desolate planet which the Rebels learn about, and call in Kyle Katarn to investigate. He arrives, and the research is biological in nature, and it's the Aliens being studied inside the facility...

He gets found, escapes, but knocks out power to the base... In doing so, the site's cages open, and Aliens get loose, and Kyle must escape. There are a lot of puzzles and things (remotely controlling a mouse droid to open a door, etc.), but things go horribly wrong. The Aliens the guy designed were skins but he heightened the speed of them, and their aggressiveness, and they'd attack anyone from neutral Imp scientists to Stormtroopers to Kyle and droids.

Anyway, Kyle kills a bunch of aliens, stormtroopers, and more, and bails on the planet, tells the Rebels to stay away from it after what happened, and that's that. Since that moment, I've had this mash-up fetish for 3.75" Aliens figures in my SW universe. I got one Microman Alien (mucho expensive), and bought the Hot Toys Snap Kits when they came out, which actually gained value. The last Aliens series was hands down the best.

If Hiya is going to delve into Aliens and possibly make human characters, I'm excited for this. The thought of a line of Colonial Marines is just awesome to me. I love that universe, and just wish Hot Toys hadn't bailed on it right after it got really good.

A reminder that BBTS has TWO Aliens available for pre-order and that line is given the green light to expand if these two Aliens do well enough at retail. It'll expand to Colonial Marines and Power Suit as well... So, yeah, pre-order Aliens: Colonial Marines figures on BBTS, please!

Friend of the site Melvin hooked me up with multiple images of the Alien Warrior, which is insane.

First, these come with extra sets of hands, eggs, and facehugger, plus a simple but visually appealing environmental stand (in this case, a simple steel grate floor). That alone, I'm hooked a lot more now knowing that they're like a high-end figure in a small scale rather than just an alien in a box.

It's something that, if Hasbro (haha) were to up the ante on Star Wars figures, I think "posed" hands ala a Sideshow figure would be the way to go. Vader with a fist hand, and pointing, and an choking, and just plain holding a saber, would be pretty awesome.

It's like the last step they can make really, but I digress.

The Alien does come with these hands though, and that's neat because it gives them a little character (imagine it on something a lot less "animal" like? Just sayin' it's a great idea Hiya Toys is basically pioneering here). These are a great little idea, and something I've tried to customize a bit myself just for extra realism should I want it.

The articulation looks sick as hell, and the paint apps are something we've not seen in quite a while on a Star Wars figure. Comparatively speaking, this is pretty outstanding stuff, especially for essentially a Chinese company's imported toy (IE: Not an American toy made in China but for the US market).

The price stings a little... $22-ish is pricey for any figure, but I bought the Hot Toys Snap Kits by the case, and basically this is similarly priced (adjusting for inflation). So I can't gripe a lot.

The detail, wow... I'm anxious now, more than ever, to see these do well so the company hopefully continues this line to include the Power Suit and Colonial Marine figures (even if they're just generic non "Aliens" ones).

Click the thumbnails below to check out each image, and a big thanks to friend of the site Melvin for sharing:

That looks pretty slick. I love the egg with face hugger. While I probably won't purchase due to price (I was spoiled by some $10 Neca Xenos) it's great that Hiya packed in a bunch of extra stuff. I really can't wait for the Marines... I'll cave on those for sure.

Given it's an import, extra hands, the egg and hugger... I'm pretty sold on it being basically a mini-SS figure. That trumped the price. Plus I'm not jumping scales (I'm sticking to that, haha) so 4" or bust. I have the Hot Toys Snap Kit guys, and some Microman Alien Warriors (which are awesome, came with basically some of the same stuff, and cost a lot more).

I'm anxious for the Marines and Power Suit at this point... If they're even remotely close in quality, I'm impressed.

Their human figures (Our War line) are hit/miss. The quality's there but there are tweaks needed to perfect those. I'm curious to see how they'd go. They really do creatures perfectly though, so they've got the ability and then some I think to really put out incredible toy lines.

I'd like to see a price cut to something under $20. $15.99 would be more reasonable to buy multiples of anything they make I think. Their Our War line is about $10/per, but blister packaged, and re-uses a lot of parts.

From their Aliens: Colonial Marines (which makes for a billion times cooler toy line than it did a video game!), Hiya Toys has indeed prototyped the Power Loader. A rep from the site told me last year they were working on it, and that it was pretty complex to do. I'm loving that proto though!

Take note of those prototype humans too. I was told that they're also working on USCMs, which would be from the game (IE: No Hicks/Vasquez, etc., but the fact we could see hyper articulated USCM's is cool unto itself). I can't tell if any of the proto human figures are of said marines, but very well could be. One can only hope.

If you've been on the fence, I cannot say enough positives about their Alien figures from the game. The price nets you a hyper articulated Alien, an egg, a facehugger... How can you go wrong? They really do pack a ton of little bits and pieces in for the price. Oh, and a bitchin' stand that looks like deck plating to boot. I got the Alien Warrior last year, and am picking up more soon. It fits in flawlessly with my Hot Toys 1/18 figures to boot, and I'd army build the eggs alone to be honest. They could sell those in a box of 10, and I'd be down for a few.

Support lines like this... You'll be glad you did, and shocked how fun they mix in on your Star Wars shelf too, plus it helps fill in any lulls in Star Wars without being overwhelming to collect since they're smaller lines.

There are just too many companies running separate lines for this franchise. It would be next to impossible for someone wanting to jump on board at this point to catch up. But there is definitely some cool stuff out there.